Hell has never looked or sounded so heavenly as at Hadestown on Broadway, the eight-time Tony-winning Best Musical that puts a fresh spin on classic folklore. Get Hadestown tickets now.
The show has journeyed far and wide and, since 2019, Hadestown on Broadway has transformed the Walter Kerr Theatre into the jazzy, seductive underworld. The stage musical began its life in the mind of celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, who turned her idea into a 2010 folk opera concept album. However, songs from the album were performed in her native state of Vermont several times back in 2006 and 2007 as a kind of "D.I.Y. theatre project," as the singer herself described it.
Its current form began to take shape after Mitchell approached Tony Award-nominated director Rachel Chavkin in 2012 following a visit to Chavkin's groundbreaking production of the immersive musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Together the pair co-developed the stage musical, with Mitchell adding 15 new songs and additional dialogue to fill the gaps in the story line and allow deeper characterizations.
Finally, Hadestown was ready to stage its world premiere in May 2016 at New York Theatre Workshop off Broadway, and huge critical acclaim and audience reactions got the run extended to the end of July 2016. The production was also rewarded with a Drama Desk nomination in the category of Outstanding Musical in 2017, along with seven Lucille Lortel Award nominations.
Hadestown made two more stops on its journey to Broadway, with a Canadian premiere at Edmonton's Citadel Theatre in November 2017 and a U.K. premiere at London's National Theatre the following year. The Broadway transfer was officially confirmed during that run, and Hadestown in New York won eight Tony Awards out of 14 nominations, including Best Musical.
This "Road to Hell" may have been a long and winding one that has taken Mitchell and Chavkin over a decade to walk, but the theatrical outcome is heavenly.
What is Hadestown about?
The Hadestown musical is a genre-defying adaptation of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, now in a Depression-era-inspired setting and set to jazz and folk music. The pair's romance gets thwarted when Eurydice, seeing no other options for survival, agrees to work for underworld god Hades in his soulless factory. Orpheus undertakes a dangerous journey to rescue her. Their story is intertwined with the myth of Hades and his own wife, Persephone, and other mythic figures, like the god Hermes and the Fates, also make appearances.
How long is Hadestown?
Hadestown runs 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission.
Get Hadestown Broadway tickets now.
(Photos by Matthew Murphy)
